ALR56M
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Hi,
I have been playing around with the different F-16 variants and their different avionics in 4.33. It is really a cool feature to have these new systems. And it is also really cool to hear some of the reworked tones from real HUD tapes!
I noticed that the ALR56M is playing the threat’s PRF signal. It was my understanding from some deep surfing and HUD tape footage review that this capability was lost due to the complete digital core of the system. There used to be some HHRR studies online that had some minimal information on it, but as of today I could only find in google this one. The relevant paragraph being:
A significant change was made from an earlier model (the ALR-69), which actually reduces the usefulness of audio. The ALR-69 had a similar initial warning tone, but the aural display was the actual frequency of the threat and the sound remained as long as the threat was present. The ALR-56M replaced all audio with synthesized tones. Furthermore, once the initial warning is given, the beeps transition to a single beep spaced a few seconds apart. There is a trade off with this modification. Now, the pilot has fewer inputs to decipher, but hears a much less threatening sound - almost to the point of possibly forgetting about it.
This, coupled with some HUD tapes available online (such as the Serbian one) would tend to suggest that the system plays only a handful of generic sounds for air and ground threats (i.e. the clampaa.ogg/clampag.ogg files). Was a gameplay compromise taken with the ALR56M simulation or does the BMS team have better information about its capabilities?
EDIT: And just to avoid a second post. I noticed that an active missile will pop up in the RWR with no new guy tone. Is this intentional or an ‘undesired feature’?
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Was a gameplay compromise taken with the ALR56M simulation or does the BMS team have better information about its capabilities?
Both.
BMS code has limitations, it is a flight simulator not a radar simulator nor a SAM simulator. So that compromises are unavoidable. Had to make some choices among “many possibilities”.
EDIT: And just to avoid a second post. I noticed that an active missile will pop up in the RWR with no new guy tone. Is this intentional or an ‘undesired feature’?
Good question.